Categories:
All schools - Headteachers / DSLs / Designated Teachers / Pastoral Staff

Children in Kinship Care

In September 2024, the role of Virtual Schools will expand further to specifically include championing the educational attendance, attainment and progress of children in kinship care. The Virtual School’s strategic role will include:

  1. Raising the visibility of the distinct needs of children in different types of kinship care arrangements and the disadvantages that they can experience.
  2. Promoting practice that supports attendance and engagement in education.
  3. Promoting practice that improves children in kinship care’s outcomes to narrow the attainment gap, so that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential. 

Furthermore, The Virtual School will extend to provision of advice and information, on request, to all kinship carers with Special Guardianship and Child Arrangements Orders as part of their non statutory role. This will be an important step in helping more kinship carers to navigate the education system, in turn helping them to advocate for the educational achievement of their children. More children in kinship care will receive the help they need to thrive at school. 

Watch these short videos about Kinship care:

The National Kinship Care Strategy for England (Dec 2023) sets out the Government’s plans, new commitments and £20m investment over 2024-25. The expansion of the Virtual School role is one of the commitments. 

In addition to expanding the Virtual School’s role, the government have opened up the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) to Special Guardians and those caring for children under a Child Arrangement Order. 

Kinship Compass - an independent online information, advice and support hub just for kinship carers. 

The government have commissioned a new national offer of advice, information, training and peer support for all kinship carers via Kinship from April 2024. Kinship is the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales who work with all kinship carers – the grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and family friends – who are caring for children when their parents can’t. 

Kinship Together Podcast is a new podcast that features real-life stories, experiences and advice from kinship carers. You can listen to episode using the player below, or find and subscribe to the podcast on Apply Podcasts or Spotify. For more information and to contact the Virtual School, follow this link.